- patron of the Orange Fund, which was set up to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands.
- the princess also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair, which is occupied in turn by Utrecht University and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. The Chair was endowed to promote training and research in the field of development cooperation.
- princess Máxima is a member of the Committee for the participation of women from ethnic minority groups (PAVEM). She does a lot of work for this committee.
- Advisor for the International Year of Microcredit 2005, the reason why she was in Africa some time ago.

BTW. She is not yet patron of many organizations. But because the death of Prince Claus, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard many organizations lost their patron. So I guess she will become parton of more organizations soon.

it is most probable that Maxima will become involved in the struggle against unemployment of young people. There are confidential conversations between the ministeries of social affairs, education,the Orange fund and the taskforce 'jeugdwerkeloosheid' held. An agreement will probably only be reached after the new goverment has been formed.

- patron of the Orange Fund, which was set up to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands.
- the princess also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair, which is occupied in turn by Utrecht University and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. The Chair was endowed to promote training and research in the field of development cooperation.
- princess Máxima is a member of the Committee for the participation of women from ethnic minority groups (PAVEM). She does a lot of work for this committee.
- Advisor for the International Year of Microcredit 2005, the reason why she was in Africa some time ago.

-member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women’s Participation
-chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair of the University of Utrecht

'Charities' (= core royals doing actions for, or encourage, donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless) are not that common in the Netherlands. Princess Máxima's only organizations which more or less can be labelled as a 'charity' is the Orange Fund and the Prince Claus Chair but even these ares no real charities in the sense of actively collecting money by fundraising, diners, etc. They automatically get millions by the state and by the national postcode lottery.

Most charities in the Netherlands are very institutionalized. The Dutch pay high taxes and many charities receive annual millions and millions of money. The need for 'begging' looks less apparent than for some charities we see in other countries. The Dutch also characterize 'openly giving' for charities as somewhat vulgar and flashy. The main attitude is that you should contribute and be a good citizen but not make an exhibition of your good virtues. A bit of a calvinistic attitude. That is why the anglosaxon phenomenon of expensive fundraising diners and auctions are uncommon. I can only count a handful in a year, for an example the annual Amsterdam Diner (see picture) to fight AIDS (also once attended by Prince Friso and Princess Mabel), which is in fact not really for the money but also the awareness of AIDS. But such a diner is not very usual over here.: the average Dutchman simply does not see the logic in spending huge amounts on foie gras and champagne in the hope that, after all the costs, there will be a surplus for the charity.

Of course there is also a notable exception which confirms the rule: Prince Bernhard was an arch-beggar for his lovebaby, his greatest gift to mankind: the World Wildlife Fund (see article). You know, with the Panda-logo. The Prince was one of the co-founders and the first president of this great organization and moved heaven and earth to get millions for nature preservation and -protection. With succes.

'Charities' (= core royals doing actions for, or encourage, donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless) are not that common in the Netherlands. Princess Máxima's only organization which more or less can be labelled as a 'charity' is the Orange Fund, but even this is no real charity in the sense of actively collecting money by fundraising, diners, etc. They automatically get millions by the state and by the national postcode lottery.

Most charities in the Netherlands are very institutionalized. The Dutch pay high taxes and many charities receive annual millions and millions of money. The need for 'begging' looks less apparent than for some charities we see in other countries. The Dutch also characterize 'openly giving' for charities as somewhat vulgar and flashy. The main attitude is that you should contribute and be a good citizen but not make an exhibition of your good virtues. A bit of a calvinistic attitude. That is why the anglosaxon phenomenon of expensive fundraising diners and auctions are uncommon. I can only count a handful in a year, for an example the annual Amsterdam Diner to fight AIDS (also once attended by Prince Friso and Princess Mabel), which is in fact not really for the money but also the awareness of AIDS. But such a diner is not very usual over here.: the average Dutchman simply does not see the logic in spending huge amounts on foie gras and champagne in the hope that, after all the costs, there will be a surplus for the charity.

Of course there is also a notable exception which confirms the rule: Prince Bernhard was an arch-beggar for his lovebaby, his greatest gift to mankind: the World Wildlife Fund. (You know, with the Panda-logo). The Prince was one of the co-founders and the first president of this great organization and moved heaven and earth to get millions for nature preservation and -protection. With succes.

I just read an article about the Orange fund. Apparently they can spend 24 million euros this year. They will hold some regional pre-rounds for organisations that want to apply for the money, so that more local organisations can get involved too. They will mainly focus on initiatives that try to bring different people together, in whatever form.

Well, I think that Maxima adds a great deal to any place that she visits. They might not be charities per se, but her presence certainly brings more notice than if she had not visited. I agree that the Dutch Royal Family don't neccessarily favor any particular "charity" over another. But they do have the foundations that they have set up that they take a leadership role in.